Holding On
by phillies101
Summary: Nick meets Jess while he is at law shchool. He wants to drop out, but something keeps him holding on. And that something is Jess.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: Nick meets Jess while he is at law school. He wants to drop out, but something keeps him holding on. And that something is Jess.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _The New Girl_

**General POV**

It was a normal Monday morning. Nick's alarm clock went off at 7:30, and as usual, he ignored it and continued to lie in bed. After several minutes of loud, obnoxious ringing, Nick finally decided to get up and shut the alarm off. He had to go to class in half an hour, so he left his room and headed for the bathroom. He took a quick shower, and got dressed with in fifteen minutes. It would take him about ten minutes to drive over to the campus so he grabbed breakfast to go, and headed for the door.

Just as he was about to leave, his roommate Schmidt emerged form his room. "Are you heading to class?" Schmidt asked sleepily.

"Yep, unfortunately," replied Nick.

"Why don't you just drop out if you hate it so much?"

"I've been thinking about it, but I don't have a Plan B yet."

"Well good luck then," Schmidt said through a yawn.

"Thanks," Nick said in a grumpy tone as he left the apartment.

He got to his car, and began driving to the campus. Once he arrived, he only had a few minutes to make it to the classroom. His professor was strict about being on time, so he began to sprint through the campus.

**Nick's POV**

I had to make it on time! Professor Dale will kill me if I'm late…again. As I was sprinting, I quickly glanced at my watch to check my time, and BAM! All of a sudden I hit something, or someone I should say, and stumbled backward. Luckily I was able to catch myself, and I had just enough time to catch whoever I hit as well.

It was a girl, but I couldn't see her face because she was leaning over picking up the books I knocked out of her hands. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," I began, "I wasn't really paying attention."

When she looked up, I was immediately taken aback by her eyes. They were beautiful eyes that anyone could get lost in. I didn't recognize her though.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," she finally replied.

"I'm Nick, I don't think we've met before," I said while extending my hand to greet her.

"Hi, I'm Jess. This is my first day, I just transferred here because the program is better," she said while taking my hand to shake.

"Do you need help finding your class?"

"Yes please, this map is so confusing," she said as she released a small giggle, "I have Law and Justice with Professor Dale."

"That's the same class as me! Come on, I'll show you the way!"

As we walked, Jess began to sing a quiet tune. As she got louder, I could make out the words "…we are walking to class, and I just met Nick, my new friend…" It was as if she was narrating our actions through song. I thought it was cute and began to smile, forgetting that we were late.

When we reached the room, I prepared myself for a lecture on tardiness. It must have been my lucky day though, because Professor Dale wasn't in the room yet.

"Professor Dale isn't here yet, but you can come sit with my," I offered.

"Thanks, you're the first person I've met here so far," she said. She had so much energy, and was always smiling. I really like her, and I hope we can become good friends.

We take our seats, and I use the free time to get to know Jess a little better.

"So, how are you liking it around here?" I start.

"It's really nice, but I don't know anyone yet except you. Do you want to be my new best friend?" She asked, almost leaping out of her chair.

"Whoa calm down," I say while stifling a laugh, "of course we can be best friends."

Then she jumped at me wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

"Yay, I love making new friends!"

"Well in that case, you can come over my apartment and meet my two roommates, Schmidt and Winston. How about after class?" I ask.

"I can't today; I have to get settled in," she said "maybe another time though. For some reason I felt slight sadness after hearing this answer.

"Yeah, another time," I say as chirpy as I can.

Just then Professor Dale walked in and we redirected our attention to the front board. It was another boring lesson as usual, and I found myself sneaking glances at Jess in between notes. She was still smiling, and you could she was really paying attention by the way her eyes widened.

She looked my way once, and I immediately shifted my vision back down to my paper. Hopefully she didn't catch me staring.

When the lesson finally ended, I walked Jess out to her car.

"It was nice meeting you Nick," she said "I'll see you tomorrow!" She gave me another hug, and I felt a small tug in my stomach.

"It was nice meeting you too, Jess. I'm looking forward to see you again tomorrow," I said as she released me from the hug.

"Bye," she said smiling as a turned to walk back to my car.

"See ya!"

When I got back to the apartment, Schmidt and Winston were sitting on the coach watching football. They were in an argument about something but I didn't want to get involved. I went over and sat in between them, gaining their attention.

"Oh hey Nick, how was class today," asked Schmidt. I thought about Jess and realized that today wasn't too bad.

"It was good," I said trying to hide the smile creeping on to my face.

"Really," Asked Winston. "You're constantly complaining about it, what made today different?"

"I don't know, but maybe I'll stick with law school after all…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _The New Girl_

**General POV**  
>The next morning, when Nick's alarm clock went off, he jumped right out of bed. He was wide awake for the first time in a while.<p>

Instead of heading to the drawers full of his everyday wardrobe, he went to his closet. This is where he kept his nicer outfits that usually just sat on their hangers. He opened the door and browsed the few collared shirts he owned until he settled for a solid navy blue one.

He got dressed, and realized that he had enough time to have a real breakfast at home. He made himself a plate of eggs with a side of toast and sat down at the table to eat.  
>Schmidt came out of his room as Nick was eating, and went into a state of total shock. He stood there, open mouthed, staring at Nick.<p>

"What are you staring at, dude?" Nick questioned, checking to see if he dropped food on his shirt.

"Umm, who are you and what have you done with Nick?" Schmidt asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"What, can't a guy look nice for a Law and Justice class?"

"Sure, but not this guy," Schmidt said as he motioned towards Nick. "You never look nice."

Nick shot Schmidt a death glare.

"Kidding," said Schmidt, throwing his hands in the air defensively.

"Well I have to go," said Nick grabbing his bag. "I don't want to be late."

"Whoa, hold up," Schmidt said, stopping him. " Looking nice and leaving early?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to do better."

"Really, so this has nothing to do with, ohh I don't know, a girl?"

"N-no, why would you think that?" Said Nick, his voice getting higher.

"So it is a girl!"

"Bye, gotta go!" Nick said as he headed out the door.

"This conversation isn't over," Schmidt shouted after him. "It's just on pause!"  
>And just like that Nick was gone.<p>

Just then, Winston came out of his room, looking tired.

"What's with all the shouting," said Winston, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "You woke me up."

"Our boy Nick met a girl!" Said Schmidt excitedly.

"Don't call him 'our boy' that's jus-wait, did you say a girl?" Winston asked, finally catching on.

"That's what I said!" Schmidt went over to give Winston a high five.

"Who's the girl?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm pretty sure he met her at his school."

"That would explain his change of heart about sticking with the school."

"And you should've seen what he was wearing today," exclaimed Schmidt. "He actually looked good. Well, not as good as me, but it's a start."

"Wow, this must be serious," said Winston, ignoring Schmidt's comment. "He rarely tried to look good when he was with Caroline."

"She must be really special then."

"Yeah, we got get more information about this."

"Agreed, we can ask him later tonight. Maybe he will be in a good mood again after seeing his new girl," suggested Schmidt.

"Sounds like a plan, but for now I'm going back to sleep," replied Winston heading back to his room.

"Sweet dreams," Schmidt called after him.

"Ohh, by the way, you owe a dollar to the jar," Winston said over his shoulder.

"For what?"

"For the earlier comment about looking better than Nick."

"Fine," Schmidt said as placed a dollar in their famous jar.


End file.
